Saturday, October 26, 2013

The Best Underrated Female Vocalists...

Everyone knows the names of what many consider to be some of the top famous female vocalists; names like Aretha Franklin (truly love!), Etta James (love!), Adele (like), Christina Aguilera (indifferent), Whitney Houston (dislike), Celine Dion (truly dislike with a red hot fiery passion), and a whole host of other all-star singers. But who are the best "little known" female vocalists? I was thinking about this question as I was driving today listening one of my favorite female vocalists (Nancy LaMott). I decided to come up with my list of favorite little known or underrated female singers. For me, what constitutes a great female singer is less about how great the voice is (which the ladies on my list all have fabulous voices), but it's also about their commitment to their lyrics. It's not just about "how big and beautiful is my voice" (Celine!) but about the nuances of what their songs are saying!

Here are my top 5 singers in no particular order:

1.  Eva Cassidy: I can't remember who exactly introduced me to this woman, but I am so glad they did. Eva was an extremely talented singer - an "American vocalist and guitarist known for her interpretations of jazz, blues, folk, gospel, country and pop classics". Sadly she passed away in 1996 from melanoma at the young age of 33. Most of her albums have been released posthumously and my favorite album is Songbird. I just adore her cover of Sting's "Fields of Gold".

2.  Liz Callaway: This singer comes from my musical theatre background. Liz "is an American actress and singer, famous for providing the singing voices of many female characters in films" and has performed in many of Stephen Sondheim's must famous musicals. She has the voice of an angel. I have two of her albums, The Beat Goes On and The Story Goes On.  My favorite song is one that I loved so much that I used it in my own cabaret show - "You There in the Back Row". 

3.  Idina Menzel: Another vocalist from my musical theatre background, Idina has an amazingly powerful and rich voice. "She rose to prominence for her performance as Maureen Johnson in the Broadway musical Rent, a role which she reprised for the 2005 feature film adaptation. In 2004, she won the Tony Award for originating the role of Elphaba in the Broadway blockbuster Wicked." Idina released a solo album, I Stand, in 2008 which has such beautiful music. My favorite song from that album: "Brave".

4.  Katherine Jenkins: I first learned about this vocalist through her guest appearance on The Graham Norton Show. Popular in the UK, Katherine "is a Welsh lyric mezzo-soprano. She is a popular classical-crossover singer who performs across a spectrum of operatic arias, popular songs, musical theatre and hymns."  Arguably the best technical singer on my list, I am completely jealous of this singer's voice and abilities! I only have one of her albums, Believe. The music is just stunning and hers is a voice that comes around very rarely. My favorite song of hers is "Bring Me To Life".

5.  Nancy LaMott:  This singer comes from my cabaret years. Considered by many to be one of the best cabaret singers of all time, Nancy "was a singer, popular on the New York City cabaret circuit in the 1990s. LaMott performed twice at the White House for President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton." Sadly, Nancy passed away in 1995 from uterine cancer at the age of 43. On December 13, 1995, a little more than an hour before she died, Nancy and her boyfriend married - with Nancy in her hospital bed. Killer story! LaMott released 5 albums before she passed away and my favorite is Listen to My Heart. I have a hard time choosing my favorite song from this album, but there are two that are very close to my heart for personal reasons and make me weep every time I hear them, so I decided to post both videos:

"Listen to my Heart":

"Out of This World/So in Love":

Do you have a favorite lesser known/underrated female vocalist?  Let me know!

6 comments:

Tom said...

I do. But none of them are on your list. Not to say I don't like many of the ladies on your list. Some of them I've never heard of... been under a rock. Others make my skin crawl... literally, and I mean Literally. Had to have several operations to put my skin back in place whenever I hear Pink or Lady Blah Blah sing. JK.
My faves are Dar Williams, Annie Haslam, Enya, Vienna Teng and my fifth favorite is a tie between 10+ other lady singer/songwriters (like the Indigo Girls, Au Revoire Simone, The Poozies, Celtic Woman, etc.).

Sandi said...

Who on my list makes your skin crawl? I'm indifferent to Pink (although I like her song, Dear Mr. President) and don't like Lady Blah Blah. I've never heard of Annie Haslam or Vienna Teng. You can't count Indigo Girls, Au Revoir Simone, The Poozies, Celtic Women because they're not solo acts. I'm talking straight up female soloists!

Tom said...

Aahh. Noone on your list makes my skin crawl. well Celine a little, but there is actually one song she does I like. Annie is the lead singer for Renaissance but has done solo project too. Vienna is a NYC pianist singer/songwriter. My fifth lady would have to be Tori Amos then

Sandi said...

Oh, okay. Your comment made me think some on my list offend you. I loathe Celine Dion. Ah. Well, I'll have to check out your top 5.

Marianne said...

How come I didn't make either of your favorites lists? Hmmpf!

You could have included yourself, cuz. Not Tom though. I still have your CD.

Sandi said...

LOL. Sorry I missed including you, Marianne. Nah, I would never include myself with the ladies that I listed. I'm pretty good, but I'm not in their league of talent.